The European Parliament endorsed the new EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) on Feb. 26, solidifying an agreement reached with the council last December. The council will now have to approve the TPD for it to take force.

The endorsement of the new TPD strengthens the current European regulation on tobacco in several ways. Among other measures, it increases the size of pictorial and text health warnings to cover 65 percent of tobacco packages and bans flavored cigarettes and features on packaging that play down the health risks of smoking.

The new TPD also aims to make tobacco packages less attractive to women and children. In addition, the directive will also ensure the product safety and quality of nicotine-containing products, including e-cigarettes. It attempts to ensure that they remain accessible to smokers while ensuring that they are unappealing and inaccessible to minors.

EU member states will retain the possibility to adopt more stringent measures to regulate tobacco products, such as standardized packaging.